Process Improvement leaders working through Quality, Process, Lean and Six Sigma improvement approaches – are “switch hitters!” They apply improvement tactics to top-line growth during economic expansions and cost-reduction during recessions. In the current economic slow-down, productivity innovators find ways to proactively manage costs down and profits up.

During the global economic downturn, market leaders nimbly turn their productivity programs to re-think operating procedures and find new ways to reduce costs and sustain growth. Turn-around experts contend most companies operate routinely with inefficiencies reaching up to 30% of costs! The holy grail of productivity is to proactively reduce waste and inefficiencies – without hurting growth drivers.

Effective cost management and savvy implementation of diverse process improvement tools are the central themes for the Global Benchmarking Council’s 10th Annual Quality Excellence, a networking conference for executives working in business planning, strategy, quality, six sigma, productivity improvement or operations management. Through candid case examples from Fortune 100 companies, forward-looking field research, roundtable discussions, and panel briefings from nimble market leaders, this conference will share cost reduction excellence and productivity-improvement insights, best practices, winning strategies, lessons learned and case studies across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, financial services, technology and other industries : Together, Global Benchmarking Council members and invited guests will share their successes and opportunity fronts for:

• New cost reduction opportunities
• Developing Cost Discipline while growing
• Finding new opportunities for efficiency in Supply Chain Management
• Cost Improvement Opportunities in R&D and Commercial Operations that won’t hurt growth
• Reducing Cost with Offshore Strategies Without Creating Product Quality and Safety Risks
• And much more . . .